Zechariah 4:6 New International Version
So he said to me, “This is the word of the LORD to Zerubbabel: ‘Not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit,’ says the LORD Almighty.
Speaking to the generation that returned to Jerusalem from Exile, the prophet Zechariah rebukes the timidity of the people, encouraging them to finish the work on rebuilding the Temple. From a practical standpoint, the Israelites were a shell of their former might and glory. No longer an independent kingdom, no longer the possessors of a beautiful city with mighty walls and a magnificent temple. And yet, and this is the key, the LORD Almighty sees no reason why the Temple cannot be rebuilt.
God does NOT calculate possibilities based upon human power; period. Why? Because he's God!!
The advancement of the Kingdom of God is likewise NOT based upon the availability and use of human power. Laws, armies, wealth, privilege, status, none of them are necessary for God to fulfill his purpose in this world. Why? Because his purpose is a spiritual purpose, first and foremost, the saving of the Lost by the effective sharing of the Gospel and the transformation of the redeemed into Christ-likeness. In the end, human power is not only unnecessary to advance this agenda, history has demonstrated time and time again that it is often counter-productive. In other words, a Church with power, by this world's way of defining it, is typically less effective at its spiritual mission than a Church without power in this world. The classic example of this is the Early Church. Prior to Constantine, the Church was a minority in its culture, without status, without wealth or coercive power. And yet, growth was explosive, and importantly, when martyrs were made it was being done to the Church not by the Church.
'Christian' Nationalism, in a sharp contrast that ought to be a massive warning sign, is focused primarily upon earthly power, as if this is a path toward achieving God's will. To that end, a slogan like, "Take America Back for God" employed by politicians for political ends, is not only disingenuous {Are they actually planning on giving America to God should they win power? Really??}, but also blasphemous. The power they seek is not God's power but their own, the purpose to which they will put power when they achieve it are not God's purposes but their own, and an America wholly under their control would NOT be more honoring and pleasing to God simply because politicians who claim to represent God wield earthly authority. As Han Solo frustrating says in The Force Awakens, "That's not how the Force works!"
Recognizing this dangerous contrast, between the power Christians are called by God to wield (spiritual: serving and sacrificing) and the power that 'Christian' Nationalism grasps after (earthly: dominating and self-advancing), Calvin College historian Kristin Kobes Du Mez wrote, Jesus and John Wayne How White Evangelicals Corrupted a Faith and Fractured a Nation. Her premise in a nutshell is that Evangelical (and also Fundamentalist) Christians prefer John Wayne to Jesus. Rather than a humble servant willing to forgive his enemies, they prefer a hard charging tough guy ready to destroy them. Unfortunately, her analysis is all too accurate. Just this past week the YouTube channel, When We Understand The Text, whose content is written and narrated by a pastor, fully embraced 'Christian' Nationalism, mocking the weakness of those who warn against its dangers (i.e. wimps like me).
In the end, "thy Kingdom come, thy will be done" is our daily prayer, and as the prophet Zechariah made clear to those willing to listen, it won't be by might or power, but by God's Spirit.
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